Online Resources for Teacher Education
Early Field Experience Courses: A Case Study
Marilyn J. Staffo, Debra Baird, Estelle Ryan Clavelli, and Myrtes Dunn Green
Stillman College
Abstract
The development and use of online resources for early field-based teacher education
experiences can offer many challenges. This case study outlines the three-year period ofdevelopment and implementation of online resources for two such courses, one forfreshmen and one for sophomores.
This case study examines the development and implementation of two field
experience courses containing extensive online material for freshmen and sophomore
students interested in majoring in elementary or physical education or in earning
certification in a secondary discipline at Stillman College, a liberal arts, private,
historically black teaching institution, affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Case study methodology was chosen to describe the processes utilized for thedevelopment and implementation of online resources for teacher education early field
experience courses and to answer research questions related to the study. Yin (1994)
indicates that case study research is an accepted methodology for describing
organizational processes. Yin (1994) defines a case study as, “An empirical inquiry thatinvestigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context, especially when theboundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident” (p. 13).
The categories of inquiry that were identified as the research questions for thiscase study are:
1. How does a teacher education program develop and implement online
resources for early field experience courses?
2. Why would it be advantageous to utilize online resources for early field
experience courses?
3. How would the courses be best organized for the most effective use of theonline component?
4. How would students respond to the online resources?
The purpose of this case study is to provide descriptive information that will inform
others involved in the use of online resources for early field experiences and to add to
discussions of the process of developing and using online resources.
In response to the research questions, the case study describes the background forthese courses, how the courses and the online resources were developed, and theextensive support made available for that development. This is followed by an outline of
the implementation of these courses over a two-year period. Within this description are
successes and challenges encountered in the delivery of these courses, including how
they have evolved since they were first implemented. Data collection and analysis is
described. Multiple sources of data used in the case study include faculty observations,

2
faculty and student reflections, student attendance data, student field experience logs, andfaculty interviews. Data analysis led to findings that form the basis for conclusions
concerning the use of the online course material. The case study presents plans toimprove the use of online material for these courses. The study concludes withrecommendations for further study related to findings from Stillman’s experiences inproviding online materials for early teacher education field experience courses.
BackgroundIn 1999, the Stillman Teacher Education Program (STEP) faculty members wereasked to develop courses with field experiences for freshmen and sophomore students
interested in becoming teachers. The philosophical basis for early field experience isconsidered to be best practice and serves as the basis for the STEP conceptual framework(Guyton, Rainer, & Wright, 1997). This early exposure to the teaching field gives
freshmen and sophomore students an opportunity to examine whether teaching is the
career they want to pursue. The philosophy of the program is that the students involved inearly field experiences begin to think of themselves as future teachers and have early
opportunities to collect authentic experiences they can use as a foundation for the theory
they will be exposed to in future teacher education courses. Early field experiences
provide opportunities to teacher education students to become better teachers by helping
them to articulate their purpose, choose appropriate instructional strategies, andunderstand P-12th grade students’ social and cognitive background (Liston & Zeichner,
1991).
As discussion of the proposed early field experience evolved, the faculty decided
to develop online resources to support student field experiences. The rationale for using
extensive online material was to provide resources to students any place and any timethey had access to the Internet. It was anticipated that this access would be especiallyvaluable to students during the times when they are out in the field (Schwille, Nagel, &DeBolt, 2000).
Course Development and the Creation of Online Material
Faculty members were then charged with the task of developing two courses forearly field experience in education. Two faculty members spent the summer of 2000
developing content and creating online material for these courses. The early field
experience courses were developed to include opportunities for the teacher education
students to actively assist in classrooms in area schools as they make the transition fromstudent to preservice teacher (McIntyre, 1983). The first course requires twelve hours ofclassroom participation in an area elementary, middle, or high school. The second course
requires 24 hours of classroom participation. During the field experiences the students
consult with the classroom teacher to identify a topic on which they could teach a minilesson. The students write a lesson plan to be approved by the classroom teacher and field
experience instructor. Students then teach the mini-lesson which is required to bevideotaped.
The Field Experience in Education I (Field Experience I) students also participate
in on-campus classes during which they learn about the conceptual framework for the

3
Stillman Teacher Education Program, how to create an I-search (MacRorie, 1988)
covering issues related to the history of education, and how to initiate a philosophy ofeducation. They are also taught basic technology skills such as use of e-mail, word
processing, preparation of a PowerPoint slide show, database creation, development of a
spreadsheet, and simple Web page creation. Finally, they are introduced to the various
career and professional development opportunities available through career path seminars
with various members of the education faculty.
Online resources were developed for Field Experience I consisting of Web-pages
containing syllabi, contact information for faculty teaching the courses, documents suchas the STEP conceptual framework, the state teacher evaluation criteria, description of
assignments, tutorials for PowerPoint, databases, and simple Web page creation, acalendar of important dates in the courses, and career path profiles and photos of faculty
members in the education and physical education departments. Many of the assignment
pages contained course information and resources, including Internet links to articles andsites that provide students with the background needed to complete the assignments. The
instructions for the assignments required students to submit material to their professors
electronically.
Faculty members developed content for the Field Experience in Education II(Field Experience II) to include the development of a resource unit, effective teaching
and learning strategies, and methods of problem-solving and critical thinking in
education. This course requires 24 hours in a local school. Once again, the students are
required to prepare and teach a mini-lesson to be videotaped. The Web pages created forthis course contained faculty contact information, assignment information, a calendar,
and the STEP conceptual framework. Students were required to send reflection journals,
units, and lesson plans to the professor electronically.
Support for the Development of the Online Resources
Stillman College’s president has made support for instructional technology apriority since his arrival at the college. As a result of his vision, the Stillman campus has
become a technologically rich learning environment. At the time the Field Experience in
Education I and II courses were being developed, the entire campus was wired with highspeed cable, all faculty had modern networked computers in their offices, and education
students had access to a 20-station education department computer lab, with new
networked multimedia computers, supplemented by access to networked computers
located in other campus labs and some residence halls. During the fall of the following
year, a wireless network was installed throughout the academic, administrative, andresidential areas of the campus. That same semester, high-end laptops with wirelesscapability, DVD players/CD burners, and other multimedia features were distributed to
all Stillman students. Education faculty also purchased the same type of laptops issued to
students, enabling them to have access to the wireless network. The education department
has access to an additional 20 laptops with wireless capability for use in a departmentalsponsored ACT/SAT preparation program for secondary students. In addition, by spring
2002 the college acquired the Blackboard course management software for use by faculty
and students. Information comparing features of Blackboard and other course
management software can be found in the April 15, 2002, issue of the online T & L

4Magazine (Carter, 2002). The administration of the college strongly encourages faculty
and student use of instructional technology resources, creating a campus climate that
supports faculty experimentation in the use of online material. This institutional backing
of instructional technology supported the development of online resources for the twoteacher education field experience courses.
A federal Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers to Use Technology (PT3) grant also
provided support for the development of online material for the field experience courses.
Stillman College is a member of a consortium of 13 Alabama colleges and universities
under the leadership of the University of South Alabama, which has received a PT3 grant
to support the integration of technology in teacher education programs. The faculty
members who developed the field experience online course materials received stipends
during the summer of 2000 from the Stillman allocation of the University of South
Alabama PT3 grant. Institutional resources and climate along with outside financial
support played an important role in the development and use of online material for theteacher education field experience courses.
Implementation of Field Experience I
Field Experience I was first offered during the fall 2000 semester. Although thefaculty members had completed the Web pages for the field experience courses by midsummer, the students did not have access to the online resources until the middle of thefall semester. The Field Experience I professor was forced to make paper copies of thecourse material while negotiations continued with the Computer Information Services(CIS) Department in the attempt to provide student access to the resources. When thestudents did gain access to the online material, they were only available through thecampus Intranet. This was not the original plan of the education faculty, but was thepreference of the CIS personnel. Although students were unable to access the materialaway from campus, they could access it from networked computers in the Teacher
Education Center that was open until 10:00 at night. By the time student access to theField Experience I material was provided, the students were in local schools for theirfield experience and no longer meeting in classes held on campus. Communicating theavailability of the online resources became a problem. Although the instructor sent an email message to the students informing them that resources were available on
departmental computers, some of the students were unaware that the online resources had
become available. The professor decided to extend the due date for all Field Experience I
assignments until the last day of the semester due to the difficulties caused by the delayof access to the online resources. By the end of the first semester, the instructor foundthat most Field Experience I students were able to communicate and send assignments
through using either the campus e-mail system or personal accounts.
The Field Experience I instructor decided to create a bound handbook of course
resources that duplicated most of the online material for the next semester because of theunreliability of access to the online resources. The Field Experience I instructor andstudents faced continued challenges regarding access to the online resources during thespring 2001 semester. For example, the CIS Department made changes in the Intranet
that required changes in the usernames and passwords needed to access resources without
informing the Field Experience I instructor. This caused problems for the instructor and5students when they suddenly lost access to the resources. By the end of the spring 2001
semester, the Field Experience I instructor recommended bound handbooks for both
sections of Field Experience I the following semester due to concerns about theavailability of the online resources.
Implementation of Field Experience II
The first semester that Field Experience II was offered, spring 2001, students
immediately appeared enthusiastic, although timid, about using the Internet tocommunicate with the instructor. The course began with a series of classroom sessions,which explained the course objectives and developed students’ ability to communicate
effectively using technology. These initial sessions provided hands-on instruction that
explained to students how to e-mail completed assignments with attachments, to accessWeb-based library resources, to use online resources for lesson plans, to search theInternet for materials to support their resource unit topic, and to access online journal
articles aimed at enhancing their understanding of the issues presently facing educators.
Each week, one topic in education was selected for review and reflection. The
topics came from a variety of electronic journals. Each article addressed a current topic in
education. Moreover, students were required to write four lesson plans and submit themelectronically to the instructor who in turn, commented on the strengths and weaknessesof each lesson. These commentaries offered suggestions designed to help students teacheffectively. Although the course was designed to function electronically at this point,difficulties with the technological support services and the uncertainty resulting fromseveral failures of the college server forced the instructor to keep a duplicate paper file on
all students.
Over the course of the semester, the students fulfilled the course requirements one
after another. An online tutorial presented and explained each assignment to the students.
First came the lesson plans. Next, they read a series of six electronic journal articles andreflected on the significance of each topic. Students’ comments clarified their developing
perspective and reflected on what took place in their individual field experience (Eby,
1992; Valli, 1992). While out in the schools, students taught a minimum of one lesson.
They videotaped and reflected upon this lesson for their electronic portfolio. The next
assignment asked them to develop a mini-resource unit. Here, students used online
resources to search for topics and skills that supported various aspects of the state
curriculum. With help from online search engines and databases and state curriculum
guides located in the Teacher Education Center, students prepared a mini-resource unitthat demonstrated that they understood what a unit does, how it is shaped, and what
content areas are important. The last course requirement asked the student to write acritical analysis on an educational issue of their choice. To accomplish this task, students
had to search online journals for three articles on their topic of choice. Then, they readthe articles and analyzed the issue. This experience afforded them an opportunity to lookat the literature and form their own ideas about one critical area of education. This
assignment was specifically aimed at giving them a foundation that they could later draw
upon when researching their senior thesis topic, a graduation requirement of the College.
As the course progressed it became evident that students gained technological
proficiency. The instructor noticed a decrease in the number of panic calls and office6visits from students who had lost assignments or were unable to access required readings.
In order to help students gain confidence, the grading system was designed in such a waythat each change in the nature of the electronic assignment was graded on a pass/failsystem. Moreover, students were allowed to redo assignments. The lowest grade insections with multiple assignments was dropped. This took pressure off the students’
grade point average and encouraged students to become better technological risk takers.
However, it placed a heavy correction load on the instructor. Each semester, the numberof students who e-mailed assignments and then, wrote the instructor to ask if theassignment had been received lessened. This was a welcome relief in the number of emails that had to be answered each week. Students became more proficient at exploring
and using the facilities of the Internet.
Student familiarity with the Alabama Virtual Library, a state-maintained online
library of databases, became a reference point for classroom discussions. They actively
used this electronic resource as a means of developing their professional discourse
competence. The vocabulary choices that they made in discussing educational issues
demonstrated that they were beginning to see themselves as preservice teachers. An
identity shift was taking place. Moreover, students developed a mental continuum thatplaced education on the national, state, and local levels. They not only saw themselves as
Stillman students but also saw themselves as members of the individual schoolcommunities often returning to the local schools after the number of required hours was
satisfied. P-12th grade students developed an attachment to our students and addressed
them by name in the halls and in the community. Faculty office hours became an
opportunity for students to stop by and discuss what was taking place in their respective
schools. This exchange afforded them the chance to talk about their own philosophicalstance, classroom policies, and “their own classroom.” Of course, not all students took
advantage of this opportunity. The instructor never saw a certain percentage of thestudents for the two months that they were out in the schools.
A number of challenges presented themselves both for the instructor and thestudents. In the beginning, the availability of the technological resources was highly
irregular. The server crashed all too often. Viruses were ubiquitous. Students had to learn
how to identify and treat suspicious attachments. Sometimes students and faculty
members had a high level of frustration both with the means of electronic exchange andthe use of the software. The more motivated students wanted assurances that their final
grade would not suffer if they used “all this new” technology. They continually asked fortheir grade point average. Other students often lost confidence, became overwhelmed,
stopped doing assignments, and neglected to go out into the schools. It was the better risktakers with perseverance who eventually would succeed. The challenge was to encourage
all students to build appropriate expectations and to create a system that fostered success.
Initially, the CIS Department was totally overwhelmed with pure numbers ofusers with problems. This led students to think that perhaps the instructor was the one
who had answers for technology concerns. Miscommunications abounded. At one pointin the semester, a move to another server left students and the instructor unable to accesscourse materials. Academic content, albeit available earlier in semester, now became
unavailable. Course expectations and the grading scale had to be modified in order togive students a chance to accomplish their goals. Finally, the instructor resorted tomaking paper copies of journal articles available to students.

7
One solution to many of these challenges was to devise a flexible grading systemthat fostered the academic, technological, and departmental goals and at the same time,negated the consequences of technological failures. Another was to readjust the course
delivery to compensate for weaknesses in the system.
Ongoing Growth and Improvement
By fall 2001, two sections of Field Experience I and II were offered as theenrollment in the teacher education program increased dramatically. During this semester
students received laptop computers and learned how to access the wireless network. Oncestudents received the laptops, Field Experience faculty discovered that the server with theonline Field Experience course material was not accessible through the wireless network.
Students could still access the material through the desktop computers in the computerlab until the network connecting those computers was hit by the Nimbda computer virus
causing all of the lab computers to crash. Since it took several weeks to repair the damage
resulting from the virus, students lost access to the online resources for an extended
period of time. The administration worked feverishly and at great expense to respond to
the faculty’s technology concerns. Each semester new management systems became
available. Nonetheless, this charged faculty to learn new software and rebuild electronic
resources. While this in itself is not a bad situation, it did make inordinate demands on
faculty members’ time. Thus, instructors were unable to give an equal amount of timeand preparation to other courses.
During fall 2001, faculty members received training on the use of the Blackboard
course management software. As a result of this training and administrative
encouragement, faculty decided to transfer the online material from the Web pages on the
Intranet server to Blackboard by spring 2002. In addition, the faculty decided to require
students to subscribe to LiveText as the textbook for the field experience courses
beginning the following semester. LiveText is an online resource providing templates forlesson plans, units, and portfolios that allows sharing between students and faculty andposting material through the Internet. Features of LiveText are described in the Carter(2002) T & L Magazine article. Both faculty and students made little use of the Intranet
Web-based online resources towards the end of the fall 2001semester. However,electronic communications remained important for the exchange of information andassignments between faculty members and students. Interestingly, during the few
occasions when the robust wireless network was temporarily down, Field Experiencefaculty and students learned they were able to beam information and assignments fromlaptop to laptop.
Despite the technology challenges, by the end of each semester, both faculty andstudents in the field experience courses had a sense of accomplishment. There was astrong sense of shared goals. The lines of communication between faculty and students
expanded. New collegial networks developed between students. The cooperating teachers
in the schools commented on how much they profited from having our students
demonstrate their new technology skills in the P-12th grade classrooms. Students had avisible sense of pride and empowerment.
Two sections each of Field Experience I and II were taught during the spring 2002
semester. Blackboard became the management tool for the online material for these8
courses during this semester. Through Blackboard, students in the Field Experience
courses could access all online resources any place and any time they had access to theInternet. The Field Experience faculty placed online material on Blackboard that included
syllabi, faculty contact information, documents such as the STEP conceptual frameworkand the state teacher evaluation criteria, a description of assignments, links to online
resources, links to lesson plan sites including the Marco Polo portal, links to the Alabama
Virtual Library, and technology tutorials. Blackboard provided the students withadditional resources unavailable as part of the earlier Web-based resources. These
included the online grade book that allows students to access grades for assignments andprojects as soon as the professor posts them, announcements of important course dates
and activities, and communications tools such as e-mail links to all participants in thecourse. The field experience instructors began to teach the students how to place products
on LiveText during the spring 2002 semester. Students placed lesson plans for review on
LiveText that they shared with faculty through the Internet. Students also began theirprofessional portfolios on LiveText. The student portfolios contained links to their online
lesson plans, reflections on the field experience, beginning philosophy statements, imagesof their teacher evaluations for their field experience, and a resume. Faculty members
found that use of Blackboard and LiveText greatly facilitated the creation and delivery of
online resources. They also enhanced student-faculty communications.
Data Collection and Analysis
Data collected for this case study came from multiple sources. Use of multiple
sources is a tactic that increases the validity of a case study (Yin, 1994). The sources
included faculty observations, student rosters indicating student classification, student
attendance records, student field experience logs, student field experience reflection
journals, faculty interviews, and faculty end-of-semester reflections. The researchers
were participant-observers at various stages of the development and implementation
process and provided much of the observation and reflection data. Interviews andreflections were examined for patterns. Analysis of the interviews and reflections
revealed patterns indicating relationships between student classification (underclassmen
or upperclassmen), attendance, and student use of online resources. The facultyinterviews and reflections showed increased faculty satisfaction in the development anduse of online resources as course management resources became available. The
participant-observers discussed the data collected at departmental meetings and meetingscalled to specifically discuss the research on the use of online resources in the field
experience courses. The discussions in the meetings lead to a synthesis of the data and toa consensus regarding conclusions from the data analysis.
Conclusions
The conclusions related to the first research question concerning how does ateacher education program develop and implement online resources for early field
experience courses can be found in the description of the development andimplementation mentioned above. As indicated in the description, faculty and students
encountered numerous challenges in the initial phases of implementation of the online

9resources. Faculty found the need to be flexible concerning assignments, due dates andgrading procedures as a result of the challenges encountered. Once Blackboard and
LiveText became available the implementation improved. The researchers concluded thatcourse management tools such as Blackboard and LiveText improved faculty satisfactionin the development and use of online resources for the early field experience courses.
The second research question concerned why it would be advantageous to utilize
online resources for early field experience courses. The faculty observed that the online
resources were valuable in terms of convenience to some students with part-time jobs andfamily obligations. This was particularly true for students who were likely to betechnology risk takers and who were persistent in their efforts to use the online resources.
However, since the online resources have only been consistently available to students forone semester due to the implementation problems, the researchers determined that
additional semesters of use are needed to form further conclusions in response to thisresearch question.
The third research question concerned how the courses would be best organized
for the most effective use of the online component. Researchers concluded that the course
schedules that sent students to the field for extended blocks of time present unique
circumstances that hindered use of online resources by some students. They concluded
that a change in the course schedules might improve use of the online resources by earlyfield experience students. This change will require additional study following
implementation.
The final research question concerned how students would respond to the online
resources. The researchers concluded that students who attended class and who
satisfactorily completed their requirements for working in the field benefited from theavailability of online resources in these courses. They also concluded that students withpoor attendance and difficulty completing their field experience were unlikely to accessthe online material for the course. The researchers found that these same students wereless likely to submit assignments and projects electronically or through LiveText. They
also found that students with poor attendance were likely to miss classes providing
instruction concerning the type of information placed online and how to utilize the online
resources. The researchers concluded that a student’s classification as an underclassman
or an upperclassman had a relationship to the use of online resources. Although the two
field experience courses are intended for freshmen and sophomore students, substantial
numbers of juniors, and even a few senior students enrolled during the first year in which
the courses were taught. This situation occurred because the field experience requirement
was made retroactive for any student who planned to pursue teacher certification fromfall 1998 onward. The researchers concluded that sections with larger numbers ofupperclassmen utilized online resources when they were accessible more often than didclasses with larger numbers of underclassmen. The upperclassmen appeared to provide
leadership for underclassmen in the classes. Upperclassmen also tended to have betterclass attendance than freshmen and sophomore students. By the second year, few
upperclassmen enrolled in the sections. Findings showed that more of the underclassmen
floundered in both attendance and use of online resources with fewer upperclassmen in
the course sections. The researchers concluded that freshmen and sophomore students
need additional support to use online resources for the field experiences. They also

10hypothesize that strategies to improve class attendance would be likely to improve use of
online course material.
Plans for Improving the Use of Online Resources
In an attempt to improve attendance and the use of the online resources, thefaculty plans to alter the schedule for the field experiences. Instead of sending thestudents to the schools for blocks of four or eight weeks, students will meet on campus
one day a week and in the schools another day of the week. In addition, Stillman facultyplan to develop institutional templates for LiveText that will meet the Stillman portfolio
requirement more specifically than the generic templates that come with the LiveText
program. Students keep their LiveText account following the purchase of account accessfor approximately $80.00 for the rest of their time in the Stillman teacher education
program and will continue to have access to the account for the first year of their teachingcareer. In the future, students will receive individual portfolio reviews at the end of eachcourse requiring development or revision of the LiveText portfolio. These individual
reviews will begin in the Field Experience classes.
Recommendations for Further Research
The researchers plan to continue to study the use of online resources in the teacher
education early field experience courses at Stillman College. Although there is debate
about applying the results of case study research (Donmoyer, 1990) to the general
population, this case study suggests the need for additional research on the use of online
resources for early field experiences in several areas. Research is needed to examine
relationships between class attendance and the use of online resources. Research is alsoneeded to determine whether underclassmen need specialized support and instruction in
the use of online resources. The use of online resources for field experiences, internships,
and other off-campus learning activities is another area for further study. Additional
research is needed to examine whether the use of commercial course management
software is as beneficial for the development and implementation of online resources atother institutions as it has been at Stillman College.
References
Carter, K. (2002, April 15). Let's Meet Online: Collaboration Tools. T & L Magazine,2(9). Retrieved May 20, 2002, from http://www.techlearning.com/db_area/archives/TL/2002/04/meet.html
Donmoyer, R. (1990). Generalizability and the single-case study. In E. W. Eisner & A.
Peshkin (Eds.), Qualitative inquiry in education (pp. 175-200). New York:
Teachers College Press.
Eby, J. (1992). Reflective planning, teaching, and evaluation for the elementary school.
New York: Merrill.
Guyton, E. M., Rainer, J., & Wright, T. (1997). Developing a Constructivist Teacher
Education Program. In D. M. Byrd & D.J. McIntyre (Eds.), Research on the11education of our nation’s teachers: Teacher education yearbook V (pp. 149-171).
Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Liston, D. & Zeichner, K. (1991). Teacher education and the social conditions ofschooling. New York: Routledge.
MacRorie, K. (1988). The I-Search Paper. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook Publishers.
McIntyre, D. J. (1983). Field experience in teacher education from student to teacher.
Washington, DC: Foundations for Excellence in Teacher Education and ERIC
Clearinghouse on Teacher Education.
Schwille, S. A., Nagel, A. L., DeBolt, G. P. (2000). Mentor selection and mentor/novice
matching. In S. J. Odell & L. Huling (Eds.), Quality mentoring for novice
teachers (pp. 57-66). Indianapolis: Kappa Delta Pi International.
Valli, L. (Ed.). (1992). Reflective teacher education: Cases and critiques. Albany, NY:
State University of New York Press.
Yin, R. K. (1994). Case study research: Design and methods (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks,
CA: Sage Publications.